Oliver shuts out Allderdice

Oliver coach Tim Keefer didn't mind the rain Friday.

It gave his team extra time to prepare for its game against Allderdice.

"To be honest, I have most of these guys in phys-ed class," Keefer said, "so I had them out all day playing mud football, and they did a nice job today."

Oliver took advantage of four Allderdice turnovers, winning, 20-0, in a City League game at Cupples Stadium.

Two of Oliver's touchdowns resulted from Allderdice turnovers, and Oliver (2-1, 2-1) also limited Allderdice (0-3, 0-2) to 33 yards of total offense.

Allderdice had three fumbles and one interception, while Oliver managed to limit its turnovers to two. Between the two teams, though, they had 10 total fumbles in mostly driving rain.

The game started dry enough, though.

Oliver running back Martise Smith, who finished with 65 yards on 19 carries, scored Oliver's first touchdown on a 14-yard run with 4:16 left in the first quarter. He could have scored four plays earlier from the 30-yard line had that run not been negated by a holding penalty.

That's when it started to pour, and what came next made that holding call seem meager.

With 2:30 left in the first quarter, Allderdice quarterback Mike Pfleger fumbled the snap around his own 25. He couldn't recover, and the ball was booted by several players all the way to the end zone, where Tyree Mathis fell on it for another Oliver score.

"The ball rolling around almost cost us. It almost went out of bounds," Keefer said.

Then, on Allderdice's next play from scrimmage, Pfleger was sacked from behind and fumbled, and Oliver fell on it again.

Allderdice recovered on the next play, though, after Pitt recruit Will Clarke picked up a Martise Smith fumble.

Then, two plays later, Pfleger fumbled another exchange, and Oliver, once again, took over.

Five plays, four lost fumbles.

Although both teams fumbled in the second quarter, neither lost another one. Neither team scored in the second quarter, either, and Oliver, despite threatening to score again late, went into the half up, 13-0.

Oliver opened the second half with two consecutive fumbles from Smith -- one on the kick return and another on the next run. He didn't lose either.

When Allderdice took over, Pfleger was intercepted, setting up an 18-yard touchdown pass from Devaughn Copeland to Dante' Jeter.

Allderdice got a break in the fourth quarter, when Smith fumbled on his own 33, and the Dragons recovered. But Allderdice couldn't move the ball forward and was forced to punt.

"We had a couple mistakes," Keefer said, "but we hung on."